Tay al-Arḍ (Arabic: طيّ الأرض, romanized: folding up of the earth or "traveling long distances in the twinkling of an eye.
The concept of tay al-arḍ has its roots in the following verses of surah al-Naml of the Quran: [Solomon] said, "O assembly [of jinn], which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?"
"Some claim that according to these verses, it is Asif ibn Barkhiya who transports the throne of the Queen of Sheba almost instantaneously.
A hadith by Muhammad al-Baqir is narrated in which he attributes the aforementioned esoteric knowledge of Asif ibn Barakhia to the Asma 'ullah or the "names of God", another widely discussed topic in Islamic philosophy, mysticism, and kabbalah: The Almighty's greatest name has 73 letters (or parts).
This view can perhaps be understood from the perspective of Western philosophical idealism, where esse est percipi: if space does not have an objective reality, and reality itself is thought of as observer-based and a subjective entity,[6] then ideas such as moving in space without physically moving are no longer uncharted possibilities.
For example, Idries Shah and Robert Graves mention the case where senior members of the Azimia order were "reputed to appear, like many of the ancient Sheikhs at different places at one and the same time".
[9] Many other examples can be found in Farid al-Din Attar's Tadhkirat al-Awliya (Biographies of the Saints) or the works of ibn Arabi, as well as other similar chronicles.
[11] In similar accounts, a certain individual of unusually high rank (a sheikh, pir, or imam) is seen to have the ability to traverse great distances in infinitesimal periods of time.
It is argued that if a non-prophet could teleport the throne, then it should present no theological objections against the belief that a Twelver Imam such as Ali might be able to do the same.
This topic is studied by scholars such as Shahab ud-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, and Mulla Sadra.